Rachel questioned terms and clauses in the government’s Justice Legislation Amendment (Vicarious Liability) Bill 2025. Key concerns included wording and terminology that could leave certain clauses open to interpretation.
Tuesday marked a win for victim-survivors of historical institutional child sexual abuse, as legislation was introduced to close a legal loophole arising from the High Court ruling in the case of Bird v. DP.
On Tuesday the 17th of February, a Bill to introduce retrospective vicarious liability laws for victim-survivors of institutional abuse is expected to pass with bipartisan support.
New South Wales have committed to a law change, removing ‘good character’ evidence as a mitigating factor for offenders during sentencing. Rachel posed a question to the Attorney-General, asking when similar reform will be considered in Victoria.
Rachel asked if Victoria would follow suit with other states by banning good character references in child sexual abuse cases.
Rachel spoke on the Justice Legislation Amendment (Committals) Bill 2024.
This bill makes several changes to improve access to justice for victim-survivors of sexual offences, including the prohibition of cross-examination at the committal stage of any witnesses in sexual offence cases, family violence cases and stalking cases.
Rachel raised an adjournment matter to the Attorney-General regarding the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s 2021 report. Rachel questioned when recommendation 41 will be implemented, which would ensure justice system options for non-institutional sexual assault survivors.
